1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to cellular communications and more particularly to a method and system for efficiently distributing emergency warning messages to users of the system.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, cellular phone use has become widespread throughout the world. A cellular communication system includes a plurality of geographic sub-areas or cells. Each cell has a corresponding base station for providing communication services to wireless mobile stations located in that cell. With advancing technologies in cellular communications, and given the miniaturization and mass productions of components for cell phones, cell phone cost has been dramatically reduced such that most of the world population owns or has access to a cellular phone.
Every year, regions throughout the world are subject to some of nature's worst natural disasters, where massive damage is received due to naturally occurring or human-inflicted disaster conditions such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, civil wars, terrorist activities and the like. Despite the development of the “information superhighway” that marks the advancing communication age that we live in, entire communities of people are still injured or perish in those regions that are subject to these natural or human-inflicted disasters.
Although many developed countries have national emergency broadcast systems which televise impending or current public emergencies over television, cable and/or radio networks, historical experience has proven that these current warning methods still have significant difficulties in reaching masses of people who do not own a TV or radio. Moreover, many citizens of lesser-developed or third-world countries have the means to own or access cell phones, even where such countries or regions employ no national early warning system, or where the citizens have no communication medium other than the cell phone.